The Swamp watches the Sunday talks, so you can clean out the basement and argue with your spouse over whether to finally throw away those '60s L.P.s.

Tom Brokaw shows us that, even without the departed Tim Russert, if it's Sunday it's still Meet the Press. MPT got the big "get," as guest interviewees are known in the trade--an hour-long, exclusive interview with Sen. Barack Obama, pausing in London before returning home from his 8-day European-Middle Eastern tour.

A number of people seem bothered by the tour, primarily because Obama, who doesn't even have the Democratic presidential nomination, looked so presidential, and was treated so presidentially in France and Germany, where he mesmerized a crowd of 200,000 packed themselves into the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate.

The Berlin speech recalled John F. Kennedy's declaration to a similar crowd, some 35 years ago, that "Ich bin ein Berliner," which the late president apparently meant to mean "I'm a citizen of Berlin," but which translates literally as "I'm a jelly doughnut" (Kennedy should have said "Ich bin Berliner").

The Swamp wonders when it suddenly became unseemly for American presidential hopefuls, especially Democrats, to travel abroad in hopes of cementing their popularity among ethnic voters at home.

For decades what became known as the "three I tour"--Italy, Ireland and Israel--was de rigueur for any Democrat running for president. But Republicans and even some Obama supporters observed that the cheering Tiergarten throngs, or French President Nicolas Sarkozy's public embrace, made it seem as though a presumptuous Obama was behaving as though he had already won the election.

Obama didn't have much of substance to say in Germany; it was a "feel good" speech about coming together, being "citizens of the world," and so on.

But recall that Germany and France were among the countries most opposed to American intervention in Iraq and even dismissed by former Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld as part of "the Old Europe," creating wounds that still have not healed. Obama's emotional reception in both places seemed to signal that, should he be elected, repairs to the ruptured Atlantic alliance will quickly follow.

Republicans also took note that Obama, who also visited Iraq and Jordan, seemed reluctant to acknowledge, in so many words, that President Bush's "surge"--the infusion of an extra 30,000 U.S. troops into Iraq last year--has apparently helped to contain that country's insurgency. In Anbar province, which Obama visited, Al Qaeda operatives practically no longer exist.

Obama opposed the surge, but he has yet to admit that it has had the intended effect of "pacifying" important parts of the Suni triangle. Some astute observers noted, however, that the pacification of Anbar began before the U.S. reinforcements arrived, a result of the recognition by local Sheiks that the insurgency was not good for business.
What must worry Democratic strategists is the failure of Obama's world visit to noticeably boost his standing in the domestic polls, most of which show him with the same 5-6 point lead over Republican Senator John McCain that he had before he left the country.

Statewide and local Democratic candidates in key states have measurably larger leads over their Republican opponents, which cautions against assumptions that Obama does somehow has the presidency locked up. The main popular concern seems to be that McCain, a former Navy Captain and Vietnam POW, bests Obama when it comes to national security affairs and managing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the nation's Commander-in-Chief.

ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos trumpeted its own "exclusive" interview with McCain--an exclusivity that lasted only until McCain turned up on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" an hour later.

McCain took every opportunity to point out that, unlike Obama, he had supported "the surge" from the beginning. McCain had a harder time explaining his remark five days ago that Obama, "who does not understand what's happening in Iraq, or fails to acknowledge the success in Iraq, would rather lose a war than lose a campaign." McCain denied that he had questioned Obama's honor or his patriotism, but his explanation of what he had meant was difficult to follow.

While terrorism and the war were the prime issues four years ago, this year they are trumped by the ailing economy, which does not seem to be getting much sicker but refuses to get well. The consensus among Stephanopoulos's talking heads was that McCain has not moved fast enough--or really at all--to distance himself from George Bush's economic policies, even going so far as to say he will make the Bush tax cuts permanent, a fiscal strategy questioned by economists of all political stripes for a nation waging what will soon become a trillion-dollar war.

One can only pray that both candidates choose their running-mates soon, to stop the tormenting white noise of speculation about who is a "better fit" for whom. Washington insiders claim to know who's "on the list," but only the candidates know for sure, and chances are they don't even know.

There's speculation, not denied by McCain, that he wants to announce his vice-president before the Beijing Olympics began in a week. That would be a blessed relief.

As for Obama, as ABC's Cokie Roberts put it, "all he has to do is pick a boring white guy and there are tons of them. They're everywhere."

McCain took a dramatic step forward during his second appearance of the morning, when he announced on CNN that his first move as president would be to "restrain out-of-control spending," though without saying how that could be done while the Pentagon is spending $100,00 a minute in Iraq. The implied answer seemed to be that the level of spending in Iraq was soon to drop precipitously as American troops began returning home. Under the category of words that may have to be eaten later, file McCain's declaration that "The surge has succeeded and we're on the road to victory. We're on the way out of there."

Even more daring--not to say reckless--was McCain's pledge that, if elected, he would capture terrorist chieftain Osama bin Laden--something most terrorist experts agree might have symbolic value, but no significant impact on the level of terrorism around the world now that bin Laden has been reduced to playing a mainly iconic role.

"I know how to do it" McCain said with a knowing smile, refusing to hint at what he has in mind in order not to tip off Al Qaeda. Blitzer missed a good question when he failed to ask why, if McCain knew how to catch bin Laden, he hadn't told President Bush.

Those over 50 could not help but be reminded of Richard Nixon's "secret plan to end the war in Vietnam," which Nixon refused to disclose in advance of the 1968 presidential election, but which turned out not to exist once he was elected.

Comments

You may not have all of the facts on the jelly doughnut comment; see here:

"In fact, Kennedy's statement is both grammatically correct[4] and perfectly idiomatic, and cannot be misunderstood in context. The urban legend is not widely known within Germany, where Kennedy's speech is considered a landmark in the country's postwar history.[5] The indefinite article ein can be and often is omitted when speaking of an individual's profession or residence but is necessary when speaking in a figurative sense as Kennedy did. Since the president was not literally from Berlin but only declaring his solidarity with its citizens, "Ich bin Berliner" would not have been correct.[6]"

McCain will announce soon that he asked the Dalai Lama to be his vice-president because he admired his painting of the melting clock faces. Apparently the Dalai Lama refused so McCain was free to go buy cheese for Cindy.

They are saying this trip is hurting him (libs included) but the libs are saying that it's the PRESS who blew it by trying to make him look pre-maturely presidential. I think it was a concerted effort there ha ha....it just back fired on him.

A friend just called to tell me that Air America is saying that the press are intentionally falsefy the poll numbers to make it look like it's close for McCain.....well, Rachel being the brain dead intellectual that she is, would surely know HA!

I have an idea. Please pass it on. This November why don't we include an election to decide whether the current crop of TV talking mouths should be completely replaced? These people are so silly. On one extreme you have the host who acts like the playground instigator, trying to egg two people on. Wolf Blitzer is good at it: "John Doe, here's what Joe Blow said about your mama. He said she's so ugly she scares the dog. Are you gonna just stand by and take that?"

The other extreme is Sean Hannity: "John Doe, does Joe Blow know something about your mama being ugly enough to scare the dog?

All of those TV talking mouths are entertainers who are passed off as serious journalists.

Tom B. has experience, but Russert does politics a lot better....with TB, you just sit and wait for the left slants thru the entire interviews. He isn't balanced enough to make me watch after catching 2 shows, and, especially not a big suck up interview with Obama. It could go on for 12 hours and that's not saying anything ha.

John Crewsdan, not to be picky, but you got to do some real research before spewing such a phony statement. After Rasmussen and Gallup, what do you consider "most polls:?

"What must worry Democratic strategists is the failure of Obama's world visit to noticeably boost his standing in the domestic polls, most of which show him with the same 5-6 point lead over Republican Senator John McCain that he had before he left the country. "

According to JEDREPORT this morning, let me quote someone who does his research:

"Mixed results in the tracking polls today: Obama's lead dropped from 6 points to 5 in the Rasmussen poll, but grew from 7 points to 9 in the Gallup poll. Net/net: Since leaving for his trip overseas, Obama is +5 in Rasmussen and +7 in Gallup."

Don't sound like no gain in the last week to me. At least there is no bias in this article.

I was impressed with Chuck Hagel's comments on Face the Nation this morning. He allowed that our great nation is in crisis and we have a lot of problems that need to be addressed by the two candidates. McCain's handlers are doing him a great disservice by allowing him to lob slime balls. It makes him look small and desperate.

I was impressed with Chuck Hagel's comments on Face the Nation this morning. He allowed that our great nation is in crisis and we have a lot of problems that need to be addressed by the two candidates. McCain's handlers are doing him a great disservice by allowing him to lob slime balls. It makes him look small and desperate.

Those presumptuous 200,000 Berliners. Who do they think they are, cheering for a guy like Obama---jelly donuts or somethin'?
That presumptuous President of France! How dare he publicly embrace Barack!
Just for that, McCain ain't gonna visit them.
That'll learn 'em!

Only in wrong wing world is it a negative for a presidential candidate to appear "presidential" and to be received by our allies overseas as "presidential." No, it's much better to appear to be a befuddled senior citizen wandering around the dairy case at the grocery store.

It is not presumptuous to point out his wide recognition but very presumptuous to read more into it. Doesn't hurt. Doesn't help. The fact they were receptive to Obama by no means means that it will make it easier to repair our tattered image abroad--that they will be receptive to our foreign policy. Moreover, with a bar set so low anyone who doesn't support the war, has access to money, and such an event would be welcomed. Bono would be welcomed. However, that doesn't mean I want Bono running government. Although, the world would probably like Bono running our government better than Obama. Considering you can actually imagine Bono denuking the US, donating more of our gross to save Africa, pulling our troops out in less than a year, and banning SUVs...I'm not saying. Just saying.

Guevara, I don't know what it is with this attempted meme on 'Obama without his teleprompter' that's being posted all over the blogosphere by McCain partisans/dittoheads, but I watched plenty of Obama's interviews with newspaper editorial boards and was always impressed by both his answers and his delivery.

Of course, I understand perfectly that your attention span is too short to watch any of those.

The Swamp consulted its German linguist, who happens to be a resident of Berlin. She reports that "Ich bin Berliner" means "I was born in Berlin." A female would say "Ich bin Berlinerin." "Berliner" is indeed a jelly doughnut in some parts of Germany. Thus, "Ich bin EIN Berliner" could also mean "I am a jelly doughnut. Berliners, however, call the jelly doughnut a "pancake."

The Swamp is too busy to argue every little point with its readers, but the clear consensus across the airwaves on Sunday morning was that there had been "no bump" for Obama from his overseas swing, and that he was "underperforming" the rest of his party. The NBC-Wall Street Journal poll showed that Americans thought John McCain would make a better Commander-in-Chief by 53-25, and that Obama would be a "riskier choice" by 55-35. As Gallup discovered on Monday, while registered voters give Obama an 8-point lead, "likely voters"--the ones that count--give McCain a 4-point lead. Only a month before, Obama held the lead in that poll, 50-44. Personally, The Swamp agrees with Richard Scammon, who memorably observed that the only poll that matters is the one taken on the Sunday evening before the Tuesday election.

This explanation is a joke! I don't know which is worse, Obama playing the race card or trying to lie his way out of it! And he wasn't even competent enough to come up with something good!

It is obvious that Obama did play the race card, and that Obama is not WRIGHT for America! Hat tip to www.notwrightforamerica.com for that great slogan and for being among the first to break this story, that's where I heard it first.

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